Endometriosis Linked To Other Conditions
The Endometriosis Association (EA) has collaborated with the National Institute of Health (NIH) on a study that suggests that women with endometriosis have a significant risk for suffering from other serious health conditions. The results of this study were published in Europe's major reproductive medicine journal, Human Reproduction.
Apparent Link
Independent research by the EA going back to 1980 showed an apparent link between endometriosis to allergies and other dysfunctions of the immune system. These findings spurred members on to push for more research to discover if there were other conditions that could be linked to endometriosis.
To that end, a team consisting of scientists from the Milwaukee-based EA; the Bethesda, Maryland-based National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and the George Washington University's Washington, D.C. School of Public Health and Health Services surveyed 3,680 members of the EA with diagnosed cases of endometriosis. The results were then analyzed. Here's a summary:
*20% of those surveyed had at least two other diseases
*31% had fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome and many of them also had autoimmune or endocrine diseases
Chronic Fatigue
*Chronic fatigue syndrome was over 100 times more common than in the general female U.S. population
*Hypothyroidism occurred at a rate 7 times more common than in the general population
*Fibromyalgia was found to occur twice as often
Rheumatoid Arthritis
*Diseases such as lupus, Sjögren’s Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis were more common.
*Allergic conditions like asthma and eczema were higher. 61% had allergies compared to 18% in the general U.S. population. 12% had asthma compared to 5% in the general population. Women who suffered from both endometriosis plus endocrine disease had their incidence for allergies rise to 72%, whereas if the women had endometriosis plus fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, the rate for allergies was 88%.
Family Connection
*Two-thirds of the participants reported they had family members who were suspected of or had confirmed diagnoses of endometriosis. This confirmed a family tendency for the disease.
Lead Author of the study, Ninet Sinaii of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development said, “These findings suggest a strong association between endometriosis and autoimmune disorders. Health care professionals may need to consider these disorders when evaluating their patients for endometriosis.”
Sinaii went on to state the implications of these findings, saying that women with endometriosis often also suffer from autoimmune inflammatory diseases, hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, allergies, and asthma.
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